enthusiastically of the good he hoped to do for the people of New Zealand. He told the Federal Labour Party, when its members entertained him at lunch, that they were engaged in a noble work, but that their first endeavour should be to improve the material conditions of the people. “We must shape our labours so as to avert from our children the heritage of degradation and misery they have had in the Old Country. I have been for years the butt of much abuse and ridicule for what has been called my experimental legislation; but where am I to-day? The greatest curse of our day is the sacrifice of principle to expediency. Men are too much afraid of pushing a principle to its logical conclusion.”
It was on Friday, June 8th, that he spoke those words to the Federal Labour Party in Melbourne. On the same day he had a conference with Mr. Deakin and Sir William Lyne on trade reciprocity, and he left Melbourne for Sydney by train in the afternoon. Sir William Lyne accompanied him on a part of his journey, and in the train the conference was continued.
He had little rest that night. Arriving in Sydney at 11 a.m., he went to his hotel, and worked with his secretaries all day. In the evening he attended a performance at the Criterion Theatre with several members of his family, and afterwards was present with them at a supper in the House. After supper he found that he had more work to do at his hotel, so back he had to go with his secretaries, and he remained there until 2 o’clock on Sunday morning. In, apparently, the best of health, he went on board the “Oswestry Grange,” but he had no sooner reached the steamer than he sought his cabin, evidently with the object of securing rest at last. He had been buoyed up with the magnificent reception accorded to him wherever he went. Now that his hard holiday was over, he felt jaded and in need of real rest. “It’s the hardest month I’ve had,” he said in a tone which showed that he was utterly worn out; “I’m glad it’s over.”
On rising after a rest on Sunday, he stated that he did not feel very bright, but he did not seem to be seriously ill. As he was no better after lunch, he rested on his couch in his cabin, and Mrs. Seddon remained with him until he fell asleep. He
